Fran Unsworth, the departing head of BBC News, stated:

"BBC News has to be impartial and independent. BBC journalists are
hired from a variety of different backgrounds, but while working at the
BBC, they leave any personal opinions at the door."

I guess she has never seen a report by Laura Kuenssberg, then. And
Peston was as bad when he worked for the Beeb.

--
Davey.

On 16/09/2021 in message <shvpaa$c93$1@dont-email.me> Davey wrote:

>Fran Unsworth, the departing head of BBC News, stated:
>
>"BBC News has to be impartial and independent. BBC journalists are
>hired from a variety of different backgrounds, but while working at the
>BBC, they leave any personal opinions at the door."
>
>I guess she has never seen a report by Laura Kuenssberg, then. And
>Peston was as bad when he worked for the Beeb.

And what about this new woman - anti-Brexit left-winger Jess Brammar.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
George Washington was a British subject until well after his 40th birthday.
(Margaret Thatcher, speech at the White House 17 December 1979)

On 16 Sep 2021 16:01:42 GMT
"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>On 16/09/2021 in message <shvpaa$c93$1@dont-email.me> Davey wrote:
>
>>Fran Unsworth, the departing head of BBC News, stated:
>>
>>"BBC News has to be impartial and independent. BBC journalists are
>>hired from a variety of different backgrounds, but while working at the
>>BBC, they leave any personal opinions at the door."
>>
>>I guess she has never seen a report by Laura Kuenssberg, then. And
>>Peston was as bad when he worked for the Beeb.
>
>And what about this new woman - anti-Brexit left-winger Jess Brammar.

I could live with the remainer stance if it wasn't for the endless wokery in
all parts of the BBC. Case in point - latest much promoted drama Vigil. The
lead is the usual ballsy woman (no chance bodie and doyle or the sweeney would
ever make it on the small screen now) who naturally has to be a lesbian and
the captain of the submarine is - would you believe it! - black with the usual
checklist of multicutural cast members. Well what a surprise.

Who the fuck do they think they're kidding with this social engineering?

On 16/09/2021 17:09, HorseyWorsey@the_stables.com wrote:
> On 16 Sep 2021 16:01:42 GMT
> "Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 16/09/2021 in message <shvpaa$c93$1@dont-email.me> Davey wrote:
>>
>>> Fran Unsworth, the departing head of BBC News, stated:
>>>
>>> "BBC News has to be impartial and independent. BBC journalists are
>>> hired from a variety of different backgrounds, but while working at the
>>> BBC, they leave any personal opinions at the door."
>>>
>>> I guess she has never seen a report by Laura Kuenssberg, then. And
>>> Peston was as bad when he worked for the Beeb.
>>
>> And what about this new woman - anti-Brexit left-winger Jess Brammar.
>
> I could live with the remainer stance if it wasn't for the endless wokery in
> all parts of the BBC. Case in point - latest much promoted drama Vigil. The
> lead is the usual ballsy woman (no chance bodie and doyle or the sweeney would
> ever make it on the small screen now) who naturally has to be a lesbian and
> the captain of the submarine is - would you believe it! - black with the usual
> checklist of multicutural cast members. Well what a surprise.
>
> Who the fuck do they think they're kidding with this social engineering?

If you listen closely, I swear you can still hear the boxes being
ticked. The first to 21 wins the series.

Another similar exercise seems to have resulted in the endlessly
promoted but I suspect completely unwatched RuPaul's Drag Race?

On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 19:11:49 +0100
Norman Wells <hex@unseen.ac.am> wrote:
>On 16/09/2021 17:09, HorseyWorsey@the_stables.com wrote:
>> On 16 Sep 2021 16:01:42 GMT
>> "Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>> On 16/09/2021 in message <shvpaa$c93$1@dont-email.me> Davey wrote:
>>>
>>>> Fran Unsworth, the departing head of BBC News, stated:
>>>>
>>>> "BBC News has to be impartial and independent. BBC journalists are
>>>> hired from a variety of different backgrounds, but while working at the
>>>> BBC, they leave any personal opinions at the door."
>>>>
>>>> I guess she has never seen a report by Laura Kuenssberg, then. And
>>>> Peston was as bad when he worked for the Beeb.
>>>
>>> And what about this new woman - anti-Brexit left-winger Jess Brammar.
>>
>> I could live with the remainer stance if it wasn't for the endless wokery in
>> all parts of the BBC. Case in point - latest much promoted drama Vigil. The
>> lead is the usual ballsy woman (no chance bodie and doyle or the sweeney
>would
>> ever make it on the small screen now) who naturally has to be a lesbian and
>> the captain of the submarine is - would you believe it! - black with the
>usual
>> checklist of multicutural cast members. Well what a surprise.
>>
>> Who the fuck do they think they're kidding with this social engineering?
>
>If you listen closely, I swear you can still hear the boxes being
>ticked. The first to 21 wins the series.

Indeed.

>Another similar exercise seems to have resulted in the endlessly
>promoted but I suspect completely unwatched RuPaul's Drag Race?

Probably just the fantasy of some BBC execs. I suspect the viewing figures
are barely measurable.

Who is the guide on impartiality though? Its hardly a well known or even in
some cases, achievable goal. It changes with the culture as well and changes
with time.
There is also the tendency toward sensationalising trivia.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Davey" <davey@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:shvpaa$c93$1@dont-email.me...
> Fran Unsworth, the departing head of BBC News, stated:
>
> "BBC News has to be impartial and independent. BBC journalists are
> hired from a variety of different backgrounds, but while working at the
> BBC, they leave any personal opinions at the door."
>
> I guess she has never seen a report by Laura Kuenssberg, then. And
> Peston was as bad when he worked for the Beeb.
>
> --
> Davey.
>

In article <si1mto$1qj$1@dont-email.me>,
"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" <briang1@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

> Who is the guide on impartiality though? Its hardly a well known or even in
> some cases, achievable goal. It changes with the culture as well and changes
> with time.

Impartiality is easy! If you have 100 people in the village hall, and
99 of them agree on a proposition, you go to the 100th person and give
him, or her, the same weight of coverage to express her/his views as you
do for the other 99. These days, the BBC is exceptionally good at this.
They call it "balance" (as well as "impartiality".)

> There is also the tendency toward sensationalising trivia.

Oh god yes. After all: we have an x-minutes-long news programme, so we
have to fill it. If there's little or no news: find some!

It was great when the BBC said at something o'clock:
"This is the BBC. Here is the news."
Then the newsreader read out the news, in an unemotional, nay,
inexpressive, voice, and without any blood "analysis"!

John

On 19/09/2021 22:09, Another John wrote:
>
> Impartiality is easy! If you have 100 people in the village hall, and
> 99 of them agree on a proposition, you go to the 100th person and give
> him, or her, the same weight of coverage to express her/his views as you
> do for the other 99. These days, the BBC is exceptionally good at this.
> They call it "balance" (as well as "impartiality".)

Yet the sort of people who accuse them of providing this sort of
'balance' also tend to be the same sort of people who complain when they
don't provide climate change denialism this sort of 'balance' -
strange, that.

>> There is also the tendency toward sensationalising trivia.
>
> Oh god yes. After all: we have an x-minutes-long news programme, so we
> have to fill it. If there's little or no news: find some!
>
> It was great when the BBC said at something o'clock:
> "This is the BBC. Here is the news."
> Then the newsreader read out the news, in an unemotional, nay,
> inexpressive, voice, and without any blood "analysis"!

The main obsession is with celebrity trivia, that's what really needs to
be completely dropped. I notice it more and more with each year that
passes in the coverage of Wimbledon; one's attention is continually
being distracted forcibly without consent from the play by shots of
celebrities in the crowd, or else 'in yer face' and 'dandruff' shots of
the backs of the heads of anybody in the crowd, many of whom are
smirking because they know they're being filmed. It's bloody irritating
enough when it's during the change of ends, let alone between every
point played.

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
> The main obsession is with celebrity trivia, that's what really needs to
> be completely dropped.  I notice it more and more with each year that
> passes in the coverage of Wimbledon; one's attention is continually
> being distracted forcibly without consent from the play by shots of
> celebrities in the crowd, or else 'in yer face' and 'dandruff' shots of
> the backs of the heads of anybody in the crowd, many of whom are
> smirking because they know they're being filmed.  It's bloody irritating
> enough when it's during the change of ends, let alone between every
> point played.

I was thinking that this morning.

**** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)

But a damn great long article about some footballer who died.

The trouble is I suspect that the people making the decisions identify
more with entertainers than engineers.

Andy

On 20/09/2021 21:38, Vir Campestris wrote:
> The main obsession is with celebrity trivia, that's what really needs to
> be completely dropped.  I notice it more and more with each year that
> passes in the coverage of Wimbledon; one's attention is continually
> being distracted forcibly without consent from the play by shots of
> celebrities in the crowd, or else 'in yer face' and 'dandruff' shots of
> the backs of the heads of anybody in the crowd, many of whom are
> smirking because they know they're being filmed.  It's bloody irritating
> enough when it's during the change of ends, let alone between every
> point played.

Most sports have pauses to fill up and Outside Broadcasts have always
looked around for something interest, often an attractive young lady.
Wasn't there an occasion when a camera at a cricket match zoomed in on a
balcony of some flats overlooking the ground. There was a young lady
sunbathing, the commentator said something about it so she reached up
when it became apparent that she had discard the top of her bikini. Not
the sort thing the old codgers watching cricket wanted to see so there
was a bit of fuss about it.

Wimbledon matches shown on TV tend to be on the Centre Court and there
must be a high proportion of celebrities there especially this year when
numbers were limited.

What do you think they should show during breaks in play, adverts like ITV?

On 20/09/2021 21:38, Vir Campestris wrote:

> The trouble is I suspect that the people making the decisions identify
> more with entertainers than engineers.
>
> Andy

As does their audience, thanks to constant brainwashing.

Bill

On 20/09/2021 21:58, MB wrote:
> Not the sort thing the old codgers watching cricket wanted to see

Speak for yourself.

Bill

On 20/09/2021 21:58, MB wrote:
> On 20/09/2021 21:38, Vir Campestris wrote:
>> The main obsession is with celebrity trivia, that's what really needs to
>> be completely dropped.  I notice it more and more with each year that
>> passes in the coverage of Wimbledon; one's attention is continually
>> being distracted forcibly without consent from the play by shots of
>> celebrities in the crowd, or else 'in yer face' and 'dandruff' shots of
>> the backs of the heads of anybody in the crowd, many of whom are
>> smirking because they know they're being filmed.  It's bloody irritating
>> enough when it's during the change of ends, let alone between every
>> point played.
>
> [snip]
>
> What do you think they should show during breaks in play, adverts like ITV?

It's very much a case of more is so much less - the more they try and
impress us by having cameras in weird places, the more artificially
contrived and inanely pointless it all seems - and less is so much
more ...

Concentrate on the play and the players:
+ Show reruns of the best shots since the last break;
+ Show and comment on scores from other matches around the grounds;
+ Show previous year's clips by the player's involved in the match;
- Don't show tasteless shots of line judges' arses on Centre and #1;
- Don't show people in the crowd, particularly not those that have
dressed weirdly just to get themselves on TV, and particularly
not those who are eating & drinking,
- Don't show 'in yer face' closeups giving a viewer the impression
that the subject has just thrust his/her face into the viewer's
personal space, or vice versa;
- Don't show 'dandruff shots' between the backs of people's heads;
- Don't show views peering through foliage suggestive of voyeurism;
- Don't show people waving inanely at the cameras on Aorangi Terrace
(Henman Hill).

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

> On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
>
> **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
> millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
>

If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 / iPlayer
soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman

It implies that Sinclair was devastated that the ZX Spectrum was not chosen as
the "official" BBC computer for their early 80s educational computing series.

There's beef there.

--
Is something brilliant happening?

In article <sicfun$jd8$1@dont-email.me>, Ivan Plapp
<iplapp@channel7.television> wrote:
> > On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
> >
> > **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
> > millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
> >

> If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 /
> iPlayer soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin
> Freeman

> It implies that Sinclair was devastated that the ZX Spectrum was not
> chosen as the "official" BBC computer for their early 80s educational
> computing series.

> There's beef there.

I saw the letter that Sinclair wrote to the BBC on this subject. He said
the BBC spcoification for the BBC Micro, and in particular BBC Basic, was
totally wrong. He would, however, allow the BBC to put their name on one of
his machines.
I, also, knew the chap who got paid a significant sum by Sinclair to make
BBC Baisic fit his ZX81 (I think) laptop.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 21/09/2021 12:33, Ivan Plapp wrote:
>> On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
>>
>> **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
>> millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
>>
>
> If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 / iPlayer
> soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman

Someone has uploaded it to YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBxV6-zamM

--
Adrian C

On 21/09/2021 13:59, charles wrote:
> In article <sicfun$jd8$1@dont-email.me>, Ivan Plapp
> <iplapp@channel7.television> wrote:
>>> On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
>>>
>>> **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
>>> millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
>>>
>
>> If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 /
>> iPlayer soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin
>> Freeman
>
>> It implies that Sinclair was devastated that the ZX Spectrum was not
>> chosen as the "official" BBC computer for their early 80s educational
>> computing series.
>
>> There's beef there.
>
> I saw the letter that Sinclair wrote to the BBC on this subject. He said
> the BBC spcoification for the BBC Micro, and in particular BBC Basic, was
> totally wrong. He would, however, allow the BBC to put their name on one of
> his machines.

The main shortcoming of the BBC Micro was that they thought everyone
would buy the "second processor" and just use the BBC Micro as an
input/output device; hence the profligate use of 6502 address space and
RAM on the Model B. (32kB of ROM leaving only 32kB for RAM, and some of
the display modes use 20k of RAM, and a lot is "reserved".)

--
Max Demian

In article <596f71819bcharles@candehope.me.uk>, charles
<charles@candehope.me.uk> wrote:

> I saw the letter that Sinclair wrote to the BBC on this subject. He said
> the BBC spcoification for the BBC Micro, and in particular BBC Basic,
> was totally wrong. He would, however, allow the BBC to put their name on
> one of his machines. I, also, knew the chap who got paid a significant
> sum by Sinclair to make BBC Baisic fit his ZX81 (I think) laptop.

Uncle Clive had some excellent ideas, but suffered from a tendency to
impliment them poorly. e.g. his liking for 'cheap' components to save
money... leading to product unreliability or bothersome behaviour.[1]

And his competing computer to the Acorn Micro lacked the interfacing
features the BBC wanted to allow users to *use* the 'BBC Computer' as per
the broadcasts.

[1] The main example of this I experienced was with the '2000' amp. This
issued sparks from around its power on/off button when that was operated.
And the output transistors on the back of the metal case weren't insulated
on top. i.e. live to touch. Not a good idea.

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
biog http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/history/ups_and_downs.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

In message <sicfun$jd8$1@dont-email.me>, Ivan Plapp
<iplapp@channel7.television> writes
>> On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
>>
>> **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
>> millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
>>
>
>If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 / iPlayer
>soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman
>
>It implies that Sinclair was devastated that the ZX Spectrum was not chosen as
>the "official" BBC computer for their early 80s educational computing series.
>
>There's beef there.
>

IIRC, the biggest difference was in how the competitors allocated their
64KB memory. The Acorn BBC B used 32KB for its Basic, which meant it was
a better Basic than Clive Sinclair's, which used only 16KB. Of course
the corollary of that was that the BBC machine had only 32KB left for
the user's program, compared to the Spectrum's 48KB.
--
John Hall
"Home is heaven and orgies are vile,
But you *need* an orgy, once in a while."
Ogden Nash (1902-1971)

On Thu, 23 Sep 2021 10:19:11 +0100
John Hall <john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
>In message <sicfun$jd8$1@dont-email.me>, Ivan Plapp
><iplapp@channel7.television> writes
>>> On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
>>>
>>> **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
>>> millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
>>>
>>
>>If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 / iPlayer
>
>>soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman
>>
>>It implies that Sinclair was devastated that the ZX Spectrum was not chosen as
>
>>the "official" BBC computer for their early 80s educational computing series.
>>
>>There's beef there.
>>
>
>IIRC, the biggest difference was in how the competitors allocated their
>64KB memory. The Acorn BBC B used 32KB for its Basic, which meant it was
>a better Basic than Clive Sinclair's, which used only 16KB. Of course
>the corollary of that was that the BBC machine had only 32KB left for
>the user's program, compared to the Spectrum's 48KB.

BBC Basic had procedures which elevated it above all other 8 bit basics.

In article <UTuvT2APaEThFwkz@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>,
John Hall <john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:

> IIRC, the biggest difference was in how the competitors allocated
> their 64KB memory. The Acorn BBC B used 32KB for its Basic, which
> meant it was a better Basic than Clive Sinclair's, which used only
> 16KB. Of course the corollary of that was that the BBC machine had
> only 32KB left for the user's program, compared to the Spectrum's
> 48KB.

At the top of memory the operating system had slightly less than 16K
of rom space. A bit cut out for Fred, Jim and Sheila I/O interfaces.

Next down the BBC basic rom like the other language and tool roms was
16K but other roms could be swapped in sideways.

The remaining 32k was ram
Screen at the top, of variable size depending on colours and res.
Next down was the user's code area.
Then OS workspace/language workspace.
The stack.
and last of all, zero page.

Why do I know this, I've not touched one this century and yet I can't
remember what I had to tea last night. :-)

Bob.

In article <UTuvT2APaEThFwkz@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
> In message <sicfun$jd8$1@dont-email.me>, Ivan Plapp
> <iplapp@channel7.television> writes
> >> On 19/09/2021 22:47, Java Jive wrote:
> >>
> >> **** all about Clive Sinclair on the BBC, even though he introduced
> >> millions of people to computers. (and how to fix them!)
> >>
> >
> >If you haven't already seen it, I'm hoping it will re-appear on BBC4 /
> >iPlayer soon, check out "Micro Men" with Alexander Armstrong and Martin
> >Freeman
> >
> >It implies that Sinclair was devastated that the ZX Spectrum was not
> >chosen as the "official" BBC computer for their early 80s educational
> >computing series.
> >
> >There's beef there.
> >

> IIRC, the biggest difference was in how the competitors allocated their
> 64KB memory. The Acorn BBC B used 32KB for its Basic, which meant it was
> a better Basic than Clive Sinclair's, which used only 16KB. Of course
> the corollary of that was that the BBC machine had only 32KB left for
> the user's program, compared to the Spectrum's 48KB.

That taught one good programming techniques.

Nobody seems to mention the teletext adaptor - very much part of the
original concept. For this I wrote a page printing routine. Used by BBC
Wales during a General Election. They complained that the text flashing
wasn't reproduced on paper. I think they were serious.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 22/09/2021 10:15, Jim Lesurf wrote:
>
> In article <596f71819bcharles@candehope.me.uk>, charles
> <charles@candehope.me.uk> wrote:
>
>> I saw the letter that Sinclair wrote to the BBC on this subject. He said
>> the BBC spcoification for the BBC Micro, and in particular BBC Basic,
>> was totally wrong. He would, however, allow the BBC to put their name on
>> one of his machines. I, also, knew the chap who got paid a significant
>> sum by Sinclair to make BBC Baisic fit his ZX81 (I think) laptop.
>
> Uncle Clive had some excellent ideas, but suffered from a tendency to
> impliment them poorly. e.g. his liking for 'cheap' components to save
> money... leading to product unreliability or bothersome behaviour.[1]

Yes, very much so. I remember buying one of the first pocket
calculators, a Sinclair, which after a short while became useless
because its on/off switch was unreliable. It would turn off while you
were doing a calculation. Some while later I bought one of the first
programmable calculators, again a Sinclair: "Wonderful!", I thought, "I
can program it once, and then just key in the results of a physics
experiment one by one and read off the result to enter into the table
and plot on the graph!" Useless, same problem!

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

On 23/09/2021 10:57, Bob Latham wrote:
>
> Why do I know this, I've not touched one this century and yet I can't
> remember what I had to tea last night.:-)

That's just the way old people's memories work, and it poses an
interesting evolutionary question. Why should old people have evolved
to remember best what happened in their distant childhood and youth?

Well, I suspect it works like this: Consider some obscure tribe living
by subsistence, there's a bad drought, and you're an old member of the
tribe, almost the last surviving member of your generation, who because
of your old age is dependent on younger people for your subsistence.
There would be zilch evolutionary advantage in their keeping you alive
if all you could remember was what happened yesterday, because everyone
else can remember that too, and probably better, but if you can remember
that during a similar drought in your childhood your grandfather led
them to a distant watering hole several days' walk to the north west,
and thereby saved them, that is much more useful information to the
survival of all, and thereby of you.

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

On 23/09/2021 in message <sihrrh$1q3h$1@gioia.aioe.org> Java Jive wrote:

>but if you can remember that during a similar drought in your childhood
>your grandfather led them to a distant watering hole several days' walk to
>the north west, and thereby saved them, that is much more useful
>information to the survival of all, and thereby of you.

But once you've told everybody else where the water is they can do you in
and save water and food :-)

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
By the time you can make ends meet they move the ends